Material for use in tumbling barrel polishing operations



Dec. 2, 1947s G. E. HUENERFAUTH E-rAx. 2,431,870

MATERIAL FOR USE `IN TUMBLING BARREL POLISHING OPERATIONS Filed Nov. e, 1944 fzzyerzrf Geo/ye ZT/Yzzerzerfa 2% Feci' D Green,

@WMM M@ Patented Dec. 2, 1947 FOR USE I' TUMBIG BARREL POLSING OPERATIONS George E. Huenerfauth, Fred P. Green',A and- G'eorge J. Yochim, Chicago, Crownltheostat & Supply Col,

corporation of- Illinois Application November 6, 1944, Serial No'. 562,1{10

9 Claims. 1,

The present invention'jrelates to? 'grinding and finishing materials adapted' to be used in tumbling grinding or tumbling finishing'. It is the purpose of this invention to provid-e 'a mass of particles of controlled size and contour which is applicable in connection with such abrasives as pumice, emery, tripeli andV ground oyster shells and the like inv tumbling machines for the purpose of ab'radin'g and grinding' the surfaces of metal parts.

In the grinding or abrading of the surfaces of metal parts by the tumbling operation, it is de-` sirable to decrease rotation resistancel in the mass that is Within the interior of the tumbler. It is a fact that most of the movements of the parts against each other vfor grinding purposes takes place along a diagonal surface area that is con'- tinually `changing as the tumbling barrel rotates. We find that by making the particles, which form the support for the metal parts to be fin ished, of regular shape Vso that their major surfaces are smooth, we get the best grinding action. We likewise avoid scratching or spoilingv the surface by virtue of sharp points cutting into a relatively smooth surface.

We are aware that it has been proposed to utilize irregular surfaced random shape stones for this purpose. Likewise it is well known in the art to utilize spherical members such as balls ofv material for the purpose of tumbling. Our invention distinguishes from such a device by providing a material composed of particles of controlled size and contour, such particles having relatively few angles, but usually having at least two substantially parallel faces connected by other surfaces toV define a particle which is regular in shape.

Other more detailed advantages of our invention, will appear more fully from the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawings whereinv a preferred form of the invention is shown. lt must be understood, however, that the drawings andf description are illustrative only, and are not to be taken as limt-` ing the invention, except insofar as it is limited by the claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 isa cross sectionalview through a tum bling barrel illustrating the manner in which the product embodying ourA inventionis employed with articles to be finished;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of an article to be finished showing the Way in which the regular shaped particles engage the article", to remove flashing orburrs therefrom;

Ill., assignors to Chcago,iIll., a

Figure ay isa perspective new of. one Species Shape of tumbling"particle?v Figure 4 is a perspectivevi'evv!of` another shape of tumbling particle;

Figure 5 is a perspective viewof -a further shape of tumbling particle. embodyriig;` `ourl invention;

and

Figure 6 is aperspective YviewV et still another form of tumbling particle embodying certain characteristics of our invention. i

Referring now to the drawings, Figure l illustrates s'omew-hat diagammatically the naturel of the t'ur'nbling` barrels wherein the materials embodyihg our inve'rltioiiv are employed. A tumbling barrel of this char'aeter usually comprises a shell I0 of metal withV a lining' II' of 'some other wear resistant material 'such as wood.` The; lining II is removable so that itV can bevreplaced as it wears out.y The tumbling bar-relis normally filled with a mass of metal articles I2 which areA to be ground or polished, an abrasive material I3 such for example, as pumice, emery, tripoli, etc, a sufficient amount of water, and a mass of particles I4 of controlled size and contour. The abrasive material suolias pumice, is of course, in finely divided form. The particles I4', however, are of appreciable size. It has heretofore been proposed to utilize stonezsuch as granite as a supporting mass of particles' inwhich the are carried. According to our invention, we are able to speed up and improve the grinding and finishing of metal articles by utilizing a mass of particles for carrying the metalarticles andv rub'- bing the abrasive against them, such particles being of a novel nature so as to gain the greatest advantage from the tumbling action;

The particles IIIE in accordance with our invention are made of porcelain or anl equivalent vitreous composition The particles are made regular in shape so that their major surfaces are smooth. Where the major surfaces join, there is anangle, but points as such areavoided in the construction of the particle. We find that we can make the particles with atleast two opposed faces substantially parallel and provide the desired amount of angularity. By using these particles we obtain a decreased rotation resistance inthe in terior of the tumbling barrel which permits rolling of the articles to be finished and accelerates the grinding action of the particles and the associated finely divided abrasivematerial.

The particle I4 shown in Figure 3 is one which has been found quite effective. This particle is shown in action in. Figure 2 upon the. surface of the article I2; Itwill be observed that the pararticles to be finished 3 ticle has two end portions I and IIS which are substantially p-arallel to each other. Smooth surfaces I'I at opposite sides of the particle I4, including the curved surfaces I8, are particularly useful in rubbing the abrasive upon the smooth parts of the article I2. There are, however, angular edges such'as I9, 20, 2| and 22 on the particle I4. These edges are of such a nature that they will engage projecting flashes I2a and any burrs along the edges I 2b of the article I2 to quickly abrade away the flashes and burrs.

In Figure 4 of the drawings, another particle 2S is shown and this particle like the particle I4 has its opposite ends substantially parallel, but between the opposite ends 24 and 25 the particle 23 is substantially triangular in cross sections with the peaks being rounded. This provides three fiat surfaces such as the surface 25 arranged at 60 degrees to each other with rounded portions 21 between them. The particle 23 is of regular shape which provides a number of edges 28 at each end for engagement with the surface of the article to be finished. 1

In Figure 5 ofthe drawings, the particle 29 whose cross section is a parallelogram with rounded corners is shown. In this form of the invention as in the form shown in Figures 3 and 4, the opposite ends 30 and 3| of the particle are substantially parallel to each other, likewise the smooth flat side faces 32 of the particle are joined to each other by rounded portions 33.

Figure 6 of the drawings illustrates another particle 3l! which is distinguished from the other particles by the fact that the only flat surfaces thereto are the two substantially parallel surfaces 35 and 36. The form of device shown in Figure 6 is a disc of porcelain.V It has the advantage that it presents long annular opposed edges 3l and 3B. However, this form of device is no-t so satisfactory from the standpoint of rapidly abrading the material as the other forms.

It is within the scope of this invention to utilize any of the regular shaped particles either singly or mixed with each other and with particles of equivalent characteristics. The sizes of the particles may be varied to suit the product which is to be ab-raded. For large heavier articles it would be necessary to use somewhat larger particles. In some cases a mixture of sizes of particles gives the best results. In all cases, however, we find it advantageous to use particles of a controlled size and contour. The particles must be regular in shape and preferably they should have at least two opposed faces parallel to each other or substantially s0.

One advantage obtained by using particles hereinbefore described in a tumbling barrel is the decrease in the difficulty encountered because of particles lodging in holes, slots or recesses in the work. With our material, particle size can be chosen with respect to the work so as to avoid any danger that the particles will plug or stick in recesses, etc. in the work. The regular particles seem to accelerate grinding action on metal parts. This appears in part to be due to the fact that the mingling and rolling or sliding action extends deeper in the mass thanv it does with stones of irregular shape and random size. When one of the particles slides across the surface or corner of the metal part being ground, a long continuous abrading or cutting stroke usually results because of the fact that a regular shape article has relatively large continuous surfaces which join along an unbroken line. Theregular shape and controlled size of the particles is of an advantage also 4 in screening and separating of the particles from the metal parts being finished. The particles slide easily because they are regular in shape. They do not scratch the work because they are free of sharp points.

From the foregoing description, it is believed that the nature and advantages of our invention will be clear to those skilled in this art.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. An aggregate for use in the process of tumbling articles to grind or finish the surface thereof, the aggregate comprising a mass of porcelain particles each having smooth surfaces some of which are flat and intersect each other at right angles to provide sharp edges, the particles also having rounded surfaces and being free of sharp points and regular in shape.

2. An aggregate for use in the process of tumbling articles to grind or finish the surface thereof, the aggregate comprising a mass of smooth faced particles of vitreous, ceramic material, each of regular shape with at least two faces parallel to each other.

3. An aggregate for use in the process of tumbling articles to grind or finish the surface thereof, the aggregate comprising a mass of porcelain particles, each having smooth surfaces some of which intersect each other to provide relatively sharp edges, the particles being regular in shape.

4. An aggregate for use in the process of tumbling articles to grind or finish the surface thereof, the aggregate comprising a mass of particles of vitreous ceramic material each of regular shape having curved and flat faces with at least two flat faces parallel to each other and said fiat faces intersecting curved faces, the meeting of adjacent surfaces of the particle with said parallel faces being at right angles to form sharp edges.

5. An aggregate for use in the process of tumbling articles to grind or finish the surface thereof, the aggregate comprising a mass of particles of vitreous ceramic material of regular shape, said particles each having large flat faces substantially parallel to each other with narrow `curved. surfaces interposed therebetween and having sharp edges but no sharp points.

6. An abrading particle for use in tumbling apparatus as a means of supporting articles to be finished and rubbing finishing or grinding matter, such as pumice and tripoli, against the articles, said particle comprising an elongated block of vitreous ceramic material of regular shape, said block having substantially parallel end faces, and at least two fiat side faces extending from end to end thereof, said end and side faces meeting to provide sharp edges, and said flat side faces having curved faces alternating therewith and smoothly merging therewith.

7. An abrading particle for use in tumbling apparatus as a means of supporting articles to be finished and rubbing finishing or grinding matter, such as pumice and tripoli, against the articles, said particle comprising an elongated block of vitreous ceramic material of regular shape, said block having substantially parallel end faces, and at least three wide flat side faces extending from end to end thereof, said end and side faces meeting to provide sharp edges, and said fiat side faces having curved faces alternating therewith and smoothly merging therewith.

8. An abrading particle for use in tumbling apparatus as a means of supporting articles to be nished and rubbing finishing or grinding matter, such as pumice and tripoli, against the articles, said particle comprising a block of vitreous ceramic material of regular shape, said block having substantially parallel end faces, and at least two ilat side faces extending from end to end thereof and meeting said end faces in a sharp edge, the flat side faces being separated by smooth rounded surfaces, said smooth rounded surfaces meeting said end faces in sharp curved edges.

9. An abrading particle for use in tumbling apparatus as a means for supporting articles to be iinished and rubbing iinishing or grinding material, such as pumice and tripoli, against the articles, said particle comprising a block of vitreous ceramic material of regular shape with alternating fiat and curved surfaces and flat surfaces perpendicular to both said flat and curved surfaces, said surfaces meeting to provide curved and straight sharp edges, smooth rounded surfaces and no sharp points.

GEORGE E. HUENERFAUTH.

FRED P. GREEN.

GEORGE J. YOCHIM.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent: 

